Confit Salmon, Pickled Ginger Celeriac, Haricot Beans

Written by:

Prep time:

1 hour30 min

Cook time:

1 hour

Total time:

2 hour 30 min

Portion/Yield:

Serves 4

Difficulty:

Experienced

Boys and their toys!! OK I have to confess I also like kitchen tools, especially ones that do something slightly clever and out of the ordinary. Mr.P and the chefs acquired a swirly whirly vegetable turner. It’s called a Japanese turning vegetable slicer – spriraliser (I was not even aware that such a word exists, well it does now). You attach the vegetable on one side, then turn the sling and long shoe string ribbons of vegetable appear on the other end. Yep, they are having fun and I have learned something new. I have put the celeriac through this slicer and made long strings ready to be pickled. I found that inspiration and creativity set in as I wrapped the strings of pickled celeriac around the confit salmon. It looks pretty, neat and very different.

Ginger is such a wonderful ingredient and is available in a lot of different ways. Ground, fresh root, pickled and preserved stem ginger. I like the fact that ginger helps with the digestion when used with ingredients such as a oily fish salmon; the ginger cleanses the pallet as it’s combined in the dish. I used ginger in this recipe to have a undertone and subtle taste rather than a taste that is obvious and ‘blow your head off”, the intentions are that all the flavours together make a delicious and tasty dish.

The salmon is also marinated/cured in a solution of salt, sugar and freshly grated ginger before it’s confit (slow cooked/poached in oil at 45 °C). Even though the salmon is cooked the colour does not change as it would when you poach it in water at a high temperature. The fish remains moist, succulent and packed with flavour.

I have combined haricot beans with this dish, half of which are turned into the most delicious puree including fresh ginger which gives it a delicate and wonderful taste. The other half are combined with celeriac and served as a little salad for the fish to sit on. If you do not make anything else from this recipe I highly recommended the haricot bean puree, it can be served with crudities as a pre-dinner snack with drinks.

This is a rich dish and I recommend it to be served as a starter or light lunch, serve all the components at room temperature for the best taste experience.

Ingredients & Method

For Confit Salmon

1 tablespoon table salt

1 tablespoon caster sugar

1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger

4 x 80g skinless salmon fillet portions

1 sprig of fresh thyme

500ml olive oil

For the Pickled Ginger Celeriac

200g celeriac, peeled

½ teaspoon caster sugar

100ml cider vinegar

1 tablespoon mirin

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

1 teaspoon grain mustard

Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

For the Haricot Beans

400g dried haricot beans, soaked overnight

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 bay leaf

¼ onion

50g fresh ginger, peeled + ½ teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger

100g celeriac, ½ cm diced

1 teaspoon chopped preserved lemon

1 tablespoon freshly chopped chervil + a few sprigs for garnish

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

½ teaspoon pickled ginger, chopped

Pinch of caster sugar

Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Juice of ½ lemon

First prepare the salmon (see cook’s note for sous-vide method): mix the salt, sugar and ginger, rub into the salmon and leave to cure for 1 hour in the fridge. In a medium size saucepan heat the oil to 45°C, use a temperature probe to ensure the correct temperature is reached. Wash the salt mixture off the fish, pat dry and place the salmon with the thyme in the oil for 12 minutes, carefully remove the fish from the oil using a slotted spoon and place on a plate, keep warm till serving.

Prepare the pickled celeriac: use a Japanese turning slicer to cut the celeriac into long ribbons. In a small saucepan over low heat dissolve the sugar in the vinegar and mirin, add the fresh ginger, mustard and season to taste, add the celeriac ribbons and leave to pickle for 30 minutes.

Prepare the haricot beans: rinse the soaked beans under cold running water, cover with fresh cold water in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the garlic, bay leaf, onion, fresh ginger and bring to the boil, skim off the impurities and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer for 45 minutes, add salt at the very end and cook until tender. Leave the beans to cook in the cooking water until cold. Puree half of the cooked beans with the boiled ginger and garlic and seasoning to a smooth puree. Cook the diced celeriac in boiling water till tender. For the remaining cooked beans drain the beans, add the cooked celeriac, add the grated fresh ginger and pickled ginger, chopped lemon, olive oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper and chopped herbs. Set aside till needed. Use within one hour.

To serve, ensure all the components are at room temperature and cook the fish last. Position the haricot beans puree on the plate, followed by the haricot and celeriac salad, drain the salmon and pickled celeriac. Wrap equal quantities of celeriac ribbons around each piece of salmon, place onto of the beans, garnish with the chervil sprigs and serve.

Cook’s note

Sous-vide cooking method for the salmon

Mix the salt, sugar and ginger, rub into the salmon and leave to cure in the fridge for 1 hour. Wash the salt mixture off and place the salmon with the thyme and oil in a vacuum bag, seal on hard vacuum and cook in a preheated water bath at 40°C for 8 minutes, cool them over ice water. Keep refrigerated until needed.